


Safe Exploration

by softmoonlight



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, Post-Game, Post-Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order, awkward teenagers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:33:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26675965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/softmoonlight/pseuds/softmoonlight
Summary: A new experience for them both.
Relationships: Cal Kestis/Merrin
Comments: 16
Kudos: 96





	Safe Exploration

**Author's Note:**

> idek where this came from it’s not even a huge ship for me...but anyway I’m barely awake so I’m posting this before I can talk myself out of it

He’s kissing her. 

He’s _kissing_ her, and Merrin is _useless_. She doesn’t know what to do, so she does what she always does when that happens, a survival mechanism perfected by years of lurking in the shadows.

She freezes.

Which makes everything shift from surprising to unbearably awkward.

It’s not long before Cal pulls back and averts his gaze, cheeks flushing nearly as bright as his hair.

“I’m sorry, I thought…” he shakes his head to himself, and makes to flee into another room of the decrepit temple. “Let’s, uh. Let’s just get what we came here for, and…”

Searching his utterly _rejected_ expression, panic shoots through her, like she’s made a horrible mistake, and that’s enough to make her move.

Merrin surges forward without thought, grabbing at his poncho and correcting his assumption with a harsh, unpracticed press of her lips to his.

It’s a very late reaction, but she didn’t know what she wanted until he was literally moving away.

Cal inhales sharply, and his grip on her wrist flinches, then tightens.

The moment stretches, and Merrin’s hand comes up to rest hesitantly at the base of his neck, anchoring him against her. There’s not much movement, since she doesn’t really know what to do and it seems neither does Cal, but her body still tingles strangely at every point of contact, even with layers and layers of clothes separating them.

Merrin understands the Force far differently than the Jedi do, so emotions are harder to automatically perceive, but she doesn’t need to be a Jedi to know his mind is racing and he feels overwhelmed. The fluttering heartbeat under the palm of her other hand confirms as much.

Eventually she breaks the kiss to breathe, a startled giggle escaping her when their noses collide a bit too harshly.

Cal laughs too, warm against her lips, and the nervous tension in the air subsides in an instant. It’s suddenly easy to relax against him. 

His hand slides down to her waist, but without any true intent, just holding her. Something to do with the psychometry, probably, which makes her wonder what he senses from her. His forehead rests gently against hers, and when she finally opens her eyes she sees his are still closed, slack with the same shy happiness she feels.

She sighs deeply, marveling at how comfortable it feels even though she’s not been this close to anyone since her sisters were killed, and never in such a way besides.

The next kiss has his other hand cupping her jaw, tilting her head at a different angle. He licks into her mouth gingerly, and she shudders at the sensation before kissing back with even more hesitancy than him. 

It’s slow, but it’s _nice_ slow. The kind you can get lost in.

For a moment, she lets herself believe in a different place. A place where they have all the time in the world, the Empire isn’t hunting them down, and they can do this with their guards truly down.

Safe.

For once, it isn’t impossible to believe.

**Author's Note:**

> two traumatized babies sitting in a tree
> 
> I mean you can tell me they’ve both kissed people before but I won’t believe you because Cal was trying not to draw any attention to himself and Merrin was probably twelveish when the Nightsisters were massacred...


End file.
